When the property located at the entryway to the small development where Gary Cino, his wife Janet and their three daughters lived became available, Cino bought the property in hopes of building a fishing hole.

Ten years and about $4 million later, Cino's fishing hole has evolved into an eclectic mix of whimsical theme park, natural oasis and elegant country club.

Cino first gained fame in the business world in the mid-1980s with his successful retail variety store - 98 Cent Clearance Center - which later merged with Dollar Tree. In 1998, he retired from that business and co-founded Granite Bay Ventures, a real estate developing company.

Cino settled in Granite Bay in 1987, when he built his dream home on Moss Lane across from Los Lagos in Granite Bay.

Although the home had a putting green, tennis court and all the amenities a growing family could wish for, Cino felt it was missing something.

"I had everything except the water element on my personal property," says Cino.

When his neighbor's property came up for sale, Cino jumped at the opportunity to create that missing piece and to also beautify the entrance to the development.

The first thing he did was have the home moved. At his wife's suggestion, the house was donated to Habitat for Humanity and moved to another location.

Then the real work began.

Cino knew he wanted trophy trout, but the more he learned about the requirements for having a habitat fit for these sensitive fish, the more complicated the design became. Cino's fishing hole became a series of three ponds complete with waterfalls for generating oxygen and a depth of 17 feet. Although the ponds appear to connect, they are really separate entities.

To design the ponds and the landscape surrounding them, Cino turned to Steve Irwin, owner of Alpine Terrace Landscaping. Cino and Irwin had a previous working relationship and Cino liked Irwin's work.

"I've worked with Steve for 20 years and he knows my vision, plus he adds to it and refines it," says Cino.

Irwin continues to handle the upkeep of the property and says a three-man crew spends all day each Monday on the property, plus they stop in a few times a week to do a few things here and there. The crew also plants about 700 flats of annual flowers (about 25,000 flowers) twice a year.

"It evolved into a bigger and more complicated project," says Irwin. "A lot of that was because Gary kind of gave me free reign with it. He designed some elements and then told me to make it all work together with the landscaping. Aside from the artsy things (added over the years) it has pretty much stayed the same."

Having just sold his business in 1998, Cino says he was at the peak of his interest in fishing. He also felt it was the perfect location for a wedding and so designed elements with the idea that eventually his three daughters would get married here.

"As I was putting more and more money into, I kept looking at my three daughters and thinking, 'Well, someday they'll need to get married somewhere,'" Cino says.

In fact, his oldest daughter Jennifer, now 28, had a fairytale wedding on the property four years ago. She is also the indirect inspiration for some of his latest additions.

When Jennifer was pregnant, Cino was sure his first grandchild would be a boy. He built a log cabin with bunk beds near the back of the property with the intention of recreating that summer camp feel.

"In elementary school I remember we went off to camp and the cabins we stayed in were kind of like this," he says.

When Bella was born three years ago, his vision shifted a bit. One of the most recent additions is the Victorian village housed near the original home site. The village includes several playhouse buildings and a slide playset.

Cino may yet have his fishing buddy, however, as he is expecting his first grandson, Owen, this month.

But even with the growing family living nearby (Jennifer and her husband Trent live on Moss Lane as well), Cino is not sure he wants to keep the property as his own private park.

Although he has used the property for private parties and fundraising events (the Twilight Fantasy benefit for the Children's Crisis Nursery), Cino says he does not utilize the property to it's full potential. Although he has had inquiries, he says the property is not zoned for commercial use, including wedding rentals.

Neither Cortney, 25, who lives in Washington, DC nor Brittany, 18, a student at Sierra College, have expressed a dire need to follow in sister Jennifer's footsteps. In fact, Cino says Jennifer's wedding would be hard to top or even duplicate and the three girls are very different.

Cino is open to ideas for the future of the property, whether that is selling it or donating it to the right cause.

"The maintenance cost for upkeep is expensive for the amount of time we spend here," he says. "I'd like to see it enjoyed more often."

Until then the Ponds at Granite Bay remains one of the most expensive pieces of property in the Sacramento region, but also one of the most unique.

"The property is really unique in the area in that it is a private park," says Irwin. "It is landscaped but it is really like a zoo with deer, possums, geese and, of course, the fish."